Poison Ivy

R

1992

1h 31m

Drama

List

39%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

36%

Audience Score

25,000+ Ratings

Dejected about her relationship with her father, Darryl (Tom Skerritt), a teen girl, Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert), grows closer to a fiery fellow student named Ivy (Drew Barrymore). But as much as Sylvie craves Ivy's wildness, Ivy, in turn, is attracted to Sylvie's comfortable home life. Ivy seduces Darryl in an attempt to have that life for herself, and also takes steps to kill Sylvie's mother, Georgie (Cheryl Ladd), who is seriously ill, making it look like Sylvie is the guilty one.

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Critics Consensus

An unpleasant thriller that lacks the self-awareness to dilute its sordid undertones, Poison Ivy is liable to give audiences a rash.

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Nina

Autostraddle

The title credits hadn't finished rolling and I knew this was going to become a favorite movie of mine.

Aug 13, 2021

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: C

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Ambiguous and intriguing.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 11, 2008

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...an often astonishingly sluggish piece of work that proves unable to capture the viewer’s interest right from the get-go...

Rated: 1.5/4

May 24, 2023

Full Review

Hannah Engler

PopMatters

Poison Ivy provides a rare example of an adolescent role that seems grounded in the real desperation of adolescence.

May 5, 2022

Full Review

Chase Burns

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

I love Poison Ivy-but of course I love Poison Ivy, because I love the color red, and I love lots of rain in a movie, and I love horny melodrama.

Jan 20, 2022

Full Review

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Audience Member

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. And the music was really annoying in this film.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Pierre L

the horror of the seduction

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/25/23

Full Review

mizz h

As a teen, I thought this movie was good. As an adult I still enjoy the movie, but have a hard time believing that quirky Drew Barrymore could seduce anyone. Still think the movie is an ok thriller.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I found it very predictable and boring. Its pace is a bit slow. I skip parts of it just so that I knew exactly what happened and I still found it boring. Yet, less boring than it'd be if I had watched the whole thing. I think in great part this is due to the lack of depth of the characters. We know little about each of them, and none of them is likable or interesting.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

kevin c

Drew Barrymore is Ivy, the teenage seductress who befriends Sara Gilbert and inserts herself in her rich family's life using her manipulative skills to get what she wants including her easily seduced father played by Tom Skerritt. Cheryl Ladd co stars. This seemed much more racy when it first came out. While it's still enjoyable it feels more like a TV movie at this point.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I like the way Drew was teasing Tom sc

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

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Andy Ruben

Director

Katt Shea

Director

Drew Barrymore

Ivy

Tom Skerritt

Darryl Cooper

Sara Gilbert

Sylvie Cooper

Cheryl Ladd

Georgie Cooper

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Synopsis

Dejected about her relationship with her father, Darryl (Tom Skerritt), a teen girl, Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert), grows closer to a fiery fellow student named Ivy (Drew Barrymore). But as much as Sylvie craves Ivy's wildness, Ivy, in turn, is attracted to Sylvie's comfortable home life. Ivy seduces Darryl in an attempt to have that life for herself, and also takes steps to kill Sylvie's mother, Georgie (Cheryl Ladd), who is seriously ill, making it look like Sylvie is the guilty one.

Director: Andy Ruben, Katt Shea
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Nov 2, 1999
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.8M
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Surround